A New You

My husband doesn’t know it yet, but I just threw away 20 years of daily journals. He might be disappointed because he thought there might be some gems that could be rediscovered and eventually published.

The problem with digging through my old journals is that I would be reliving some pretty horrific experiences, and I believe some things should be left in the past.

I mean, why dig up an old coffin?

When we go back and relive awful memories we are cementing and attracting more of the same terrible thoughts and feelings into our lives. How about marinating our cells with wonderful memories and a fantastic future instead?

One of my favorite pastimes is the study of neuroplasticity. Dr. Joe Dispenza, author of ‘You Are The Placebo’, says we can literally rewire our brains and stop the “habit of being ourselves”. He says we can actually fire new circuits of the brain and pave new ways of thinking, breaking old habits of playing the victim or ruminating in chronic negativity.

Scientists say we have 60,000 thoughts every day, and 90% of those thoughts are the same as the day before. Who wants to live a re-run? In order to create a new you, it’s essential to have new thoughts, feelings, experiences, and behaviors. How do we do that? Here are some tips that work for me:

Meditate to clear the brain.

Take time each morning to visualize a new future.

Every day, look for new ways to rediscover the pleasure in doing ordinary things.

Break the habit of dropping into negativity and replace it with positive thoughts and affirmations

When we rehearse the past, we dwell on the same 90% percent of our 60,000 thoughts a day and nothing changes. Our thoughts, feelings, experiences, choices, and behaviors are just a replication of the past. Let’s break the cycle. Let’s bury the past and pave new roads of thoughts and feelings by taking time every morning to consciously choose new ways of being. Let’s focus on the future. We can glance at the rear-view mirror a little, but we must focus on moving forward.